Hey everyone!

A couple of nights ago when I started the car, the headlights started to flicker and the battery light came on the instrument cluster.
I drove around for a while but it got progressively worse, meaning the ABS light came on, then the BAS light and eventually the spoiler button light started blinking and at the end of the ride the spoiler popped up out of nowhere.
Now, I know our cars are very sensitive to low power and those things are perfect indicators for not enough "juice" flowing but how do I figure out what the culprit is most likely?
Could it be the battery or are you guys more so pointing towards the alternator? Is this a known problem with our cars?
Any help would be appreciated. Obviously I won't be driving the car to work tomorrow morning as I don't want to be stranded on the side of the road. Got a feeling the battery is draining quick!

Thanks for all your help and have a nice night,

Nick

 

Put a meter on the battery with everything off - should be around 12.5v
Now start the engine, you should see 14.4-14.7v

If you don't see the 12.5v with everything off, then suspect the battery.
If you don't see the 14+ volts when running, then suspect the alternator.

If the above 2 tests are OK,
with engine running, measure from the battery positive terminal to a GOOD engine ground,
if you see more than 1/2 v off from the battery positive to negative reading, suspect ground cable or battery cable clamp problems.

 

Thank you for the detailed write-up. It helped out a lot. So after looking everything over and testing the different parts the battery seems to be fine but the alternator isn't charging the battery. As a matter of fact under load the voltage dropped to below 9 Volts once I started the engine.

I saw the part is only a little over $100 but I'm sure at the repair shop it will cost a lot more. Do you have an estimate of how much I should be paying there?

If I decide to replace the alternator myself, do you have a write-up by any chance on what needs to be done How difficult is the repair?

Thanks again for your help and have a nice day,

Nick

 

pizzaguy did a detailed write-up, see post # 26 in this thread :
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post859081

On a 1-10 difficulty scale, I'd say about a 4.
I took mine out once to see if I could fit an under drive pulley from latemodel21 ( didn't work BTW ) and I spent maybe 2 hours out and back in.

 

The advice Alex Xfire gave you is on the money and I will only add that before you start testing remove the battery cables from the battery terminals clean them both with a battery brush cleaner and reinstall and then tighten properly so that you cannot move the terminal on the post by hand and then proceed to do your testing.

 

If you want pictures here is the how to of an alternator being removed in an SRT6, very similar.
CLICK
In a PDF form CLICK

Or in an NA it is #28 in this thread. CLICK

 

I ca'nt speak to an SRT6, I understand they are a bit tougher - but I changed mine in the SE twice now (the first replacement went bad in two months).

The first one took me almost 2 1/2 hours. But the second one took only about 45 minutes. It is NOT hard to do at all. Wrestling it out takes some patience, and I lined the frame of the car with cardboard to protect the paint - but it really is not hard.

Remove a battery cable and secure it so it can't come in contact with the battery post first. Then, Take the Engine fan assembly. THen remove the belt. Have a metric and Star socket set handy and you will be fine.

NAPA had an alternator for me for $220. Now, it seems that 04-06s used a Bosch Alternator and the 07-08s used a Valeo. Yank the bad one out first and see what you have before you order one! The configuration on the back varies a little but electrically they are the same.

On SRTs I am told you must transplant the old pulley to the new alternator but on the N/As that is not a concern.

 

Remember to TAKE PICTURES!

 

Look what I found, I don't THINK I wrote this.

 

The proper SRT alternator comes with the correct pulley.
Someone tried to put the SRT pulley on an NA alternator and it did not fit. Also the connectors on them are not easily interchangeable. Valeo does make an alternator that replaces the Bosch alternator on the NA as I am sure that Bosch makes an alternator that fits the SRT.
Order using the Mercedes number or the Valeo or Bosch number, the following shows the Valeo numbers for both the Valeo alternator and the Valeo equivalent of the NA Bosch alternator. Select the number on the right hand side for the SLK320 or the SLK32. The number in yellow is just one companies stock number.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ead-img007.jpg

 

Did something explode?!

 

I"m just going by what Chuk has told me.

 

LOL.. Chuk also told someone his skreem module in the trunk was bad.. Just saying..

 

Yea, that was me.
It actually does fit, it just wont line up with the belt path due to an extension on the SRT6 pulley.
If you grind/machine off the extension, it will fit, just that you will then have 2 'v' grooves that aren't used, so you will only have one 'alignment/retainer' collar to keep the belt in place.

 

The first thing I thought was you may have thrown a belt. Now I know everyone knows an alternator would not work unless a belt is installed, and that the belt missing to most would be very easy to see. I also know that sometimes, just sometimes, something so obvious gets looked over repeatedly. So for the sake of the obvious being sometimes looked over (or glossed over), the belt is there, right?


.

 

AND hopefully not soaked in oil. ( I have seen this )

 

Thanks for the concern I actually was afraid of just that at first. We replaced the belt just about 6 months ago but I was afraid it might have somehow came loose. But nope, belt is there (and under tension) and it isn't soaked in oil. I'm thinking it can only be the alternator from here on out.
I'll go back down this morning cause it was dark already every day after I came home from work.
I even think I can make out a "clunking" sound coming from the alternator pulley. The screws aren't loose (neither in my head nor the pulley) so I'm thinking the darn thing stopped working!!

 

Famous line from My Cousin Vinny :

" Well, I guess the damn thing's broke "

 

These are the Valeo alternators for the Crossfire, the one for the NA gives you the Bosch alternative, that would be the one that comes OEM on the NAs.

 

Nice Info - Thanks!